Texas Early Learning Guidelines
The goal of The Texas Education Agency is for all Texas children to enter school with the foundational knowledge and skills to be curious, confident and successful learners. The Texas Pre-Kindergarten Early Learning Guidelines are comprehensive and aligned with the K-3 standards (Texas prekindergarten guidelines, 2007-2019). The following three Early Childhood Outcomes are considered critical to children becoming active and successful participants across a variety of settings.
1. Positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships);
2. Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early language/communication [and early literacy]); and
3. Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.
Regulations/policies
There are twenty Regional Education Service Centers (ESC’s) that provide training, professional development and technical assistance to early childhood education providers in that area. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recommends state-approved curricula for Pre K classrooms however, programs are not required to use any of the recommended curricula and they are not required to be aligned with the Pre K Guidelines. The alignment of the Texas PreK Guidelines with the Early Childhood Outcomes will help educators design developmentally appropriate, individualized goals for young learners including students with disabilities dual language learners, and any child who is at risk educationally. The TEA also provides support for a highly skilled early learning workforce, provides resources that engage and support the development of young children, provides access to high quality three and four-year-old prekindergarten, and supports partnerships with families, schools, and communities.
Compare and Contrast Assessment Requirements
All Pre-Kindergarten programs are encouraged although not required to adopt high-quality requirements that include measurement of student progress that aligns with the recommended end of year outcomes identified in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. Children who are dual language learners should be assessed in their home language and the preferred instrument must measure the following domains: (1) emergent literacy and reading, (2) mathematics, (3) emergent literacy and writing, (4) language and communication, and (5) health and wellness development. The Texas Education Commission has a list of approved assessment instruments that programs can use.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2003) and the Texas Early Learning Guidelines (Texas prekindergarten guidelines, 2007-2019) both recommend that assessment for young children are developmentally appropriate, connected to daily activities, culturally and linguistically responsive, individualized, supported by professional development, and include family partnerships.
In contrast, Teaching Strategies GOLD is an instrument for both formative and summative assessment. It blends ongoing, authentic observational assessment with direct performance assessment tasks for selected items. Whereas, the Frog Street Assessment is an on-line, criterion-referenced tool that measures preschoolers' attainment of thirty-two indicators of prekindergarten knowledge and skills within ten developmental domains. The domains are aligned to the revised 2015 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. NBPTS, (2012) states, teachers select the appropriate assessment tool based on their understanding of child development, their observations, and knowledge of the data that the assessment generates.
Three Questions
1. What is the purpose of the prekindergarten program?
2. Are early childhood learning programs required to implement state-approved curriculum and assessments?
3. How can Texas improve access to Prekindergarten programs to include all children not just those at risk?
The link to my blog https://pdsonthego.blogspot.com
Commissioner’s List of Approved Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Assessment Instruments. (2017). Retrieved from Texas Education Agency: https://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Early_Childhood_Education/Educator_Resources/
Early childhood outcomes and prekindergarten guidelines alignment. (2011). Retrieved from Education Service Center Region XIII and the Texas Education Agency
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/CAPEexpand.pdf
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). (2012). Early childhood generalist standards (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://boardcertifiedteachers.org/sites/default/files/EC-GEN.pdf
Texas prekindergarten guidelines. (2007-2019). Retrieved from Texas Education Agency: https://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=2147495508
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